It's great to see how individual memory stacks up against the competition under stock configurations, but we're also going to show how it compares when overclocked. With performance in mind, we're going to compare the maximum overclocked results of the various DDR-2 memory modules PCSTATS has tested in the past which are listed below. Remember, just because memory is clocked fast doesn't mean it's the best thing for a computer. Timings are also important, and getting the right ratio of both is the real key to performance based overclocking!

Maximum Overclocked Speeds - PCstats Results
Maximum Speed w/ Low Latency	Timings	Capacity	Max Speed	Ranking
Corsair DOMINATOR Twin2X2048-8888C4DF	4-4-4-12	1024MB	1260 MHz
Corsair DOMINATOR Twin2X2048-8888C4DF*	4-4-4-12	1024MB	1244 MHz
Patriot PDC22G9200ELK	4-4-4-12	1024MB	1170 MHz
OCZ PC2-7200 Platinum SLI*	4-4-3-15	1024MB	1142 MHz
Corsair DOMINATOR Twin2X2048-9136C5D*	4-4-4-12	1024MB	1142 MHz
PNY XLR8 D22GX85XL-5	4-4-4-12	1024MB	1120 MHz
SuperTalent T1000UX2G4	4-5-4-12	1024MB	1044 MHz
Corsair Twin2X2048-6400C4*	4-4-4-12	1024MB	1000 MHz
Patriot PDC22G8000+XBLK	4-4-4-12	1024MB	1000 MHz
Corsair Twin2X2048-8500C5*	4-4-4-12	1024MB	977MHz
Corsair Twin2X2048-6400C3*	3-4-3-9	1024MB	888 MHz
PNY D22GX93XLP-5 XLR8	4-4-4-12	1024MB	N/A
Maximum Speed	Timings	Capacity	Max Speed	Ranking
Corsair DOMINATOR Twin2X2048-8888C4DF	5-5-5-15	1024MB	1300 MHz
PNY D22GX93XLP-5 XLR8	5-5-5-15	1024MB	1280 MHz
Patriot PDC22G9200ELK	5-5-5-12	1024MB	1260 MHz
Corsair DOMINATOR Twin2X2048-8888C4DF*	5-5-5-15	1024MB	1244 MHz
Corsair DOMINATOR Twin2X2048-9136C5D*	5-5-5-15	1024MB	1244 MHz
PNY XLR8 D22GX85XL-5	5-5-5-15	1024MB	1220 MHz
OCZ PC2-7200 Platinum SLI*	5-5-5-15	1024MB	1219 MHz
Corsair Twin2X2048-8500C5*	5-5-5-15	1024MB	1200 MHz
SuperTalent T1000UX2G4	5-5-5-15	1024MB	1160 MHz
Patriot PDC22G8000+XBLK	5-5-5-15	1024MB	1155 MHz
Corsair Twin2X2048-6400C4*	5-5-5-15	1024MB	1142 MHz
Corsair Twin2X2048-6400C3*	5-5-5-15	1024MB	1066 MHz

* - denotes tested on the ECS PN2 SLI2+ platform

The PNY XLR8 D22GX85XL-5 does pretty well here wouldn't you say? In both tight and lax timing overclocking the PNY memory sits in the top third of the pack. Considering its price, and the XLR8 D22GX85XL-5's overclocking ability, this PNY memory should be a no brainer.

PNY's in the game!

PNY's XLR8 memory line is almost as fast as anything that Corsair, Mushkin or Patriot have available. Top that off with aggressive pricing, and RAM that's available through the PNY website and you've got yourself a pretty good enthusiast memory manufacturer to deal with.

The PNY XLR8 D22GX85XL-5 is targeted towards the mainstream overclocker who wants more performance than generic memory offers, but does not want to blow a ton of cash. With a retail price of $234 CDN ($219 USD, £110 GBP), for 2GB of PC2-8500 RAM, this memory fits the bill on both fronts.

With the PNY D22GX85XL-5, you get a 2GB set of memory which is guaranteed to run at 1066 MHz with 5-5-5-15 timings at a voltage of 2.2V. In the D22GX85XL-5's case those values would be very conservative. ;-) PNY also places custom aluminum heatspreaders on its memory modules. In terms of performance, the benchmarks indicated that PNY's D22GX85XL-5 are pretty darn fast even at DDR2-800 speeds. That's mainly thanks to its ability to run with tighter 4-4-4-12 memory timings. When it comes to overclocking that's where the D22GX85XL-5 really excels.

With 4-4-4-12 memory timings and 2.2V, the PNY D22GX85XL-5 was able to overclock to a respectable 1120 MHz. When timings are loosened up to 5-5-5-15, the PNY memory reached 1220 MHz with 2.3V. The dual core Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 processor probably doesn't have enough power to take advantage of the extra bandwidth, but that will play a bigger role when quad core processors become mainstream.

PNY's enthusiast memory is good news for anyone who likes to push their computers to the limit. This 2GB kit of PC2-8500 RAM is priced nicely and so on the whole PNY's XLR8 D22GX85XL-5 is pretty good RAM.

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